A young man smokes a Cuban cigar in a pub.

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Tobacco giant Philip Morris might sell its cigar business, as it works toward a smoke-free future

Cigar sales lit up during the pandemic, but have faded since.

3/3/25 11:21AM

Marlboro owner Philip Morris International is considering a potential sale of its cigar business in the US as the company continues to shift toward its smoke-free products. The tobacco maker is looking for over $1 billion for its cigar unit, per Bloomberg.

Putting out its cigar business isn’t entirely surprising — the division came almost as an add-on when it acquired Zyn maker Swedish Match to focus on smoke-free products, seeing a ~22% dip in cigar shipments since the takeover. Indeed, the US cigar market as a whole has been gently burning down, with sales down ~23% in 2023 relative to the pandemic high of 2021.

Stubbing out

As sales of cigarettes continue to steadily drop, tobacco companies have long been searching for something to light up their sales figures. For Philip Morris, while traditional combustible products still take up a large part of its earnings, the company’s growth is now mainly driven by its smoke-free alternatives like IQOS and Zyn pouches, which bring in about 40% of the company’s total sales as of the latest quarter.

One bright spark in the market is high-end, handmade cigars — a trend which the machine-based cigar maker Philip Morris is on the wrong side of.

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JetBlue is raising its bag fees as fuel costs squeeze airlines

JetBlue will reportedly hike its bag fees, as the cost of jet fuel continues to climb amid the war in Iran. It’s the latest example of carriers finding ways to push rising costs onto travelers.

Last week, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said that if fuel prices remain elevated, fares would need to rise another 20% for his airline to break even this year.

As CNBC reported, when one airline raises fees, others tend to follow.

Earlier this month, JetBlue hiked its first-quarter outlook for operating revenue per seat mile to between 5% and 7%, saying that strong Q1 demand helped “partially offset additional expenses realized from operational disruptions and rising fuel costs.” Now, the carrier appears to be making moves to further boost revenue to offset those costs.

Earlier on Monday, JetBlue rival Alaska Air lowered its Q1 profit forecast. The refining margins for the carrier’s cheapest fuel option — sourced from Singapore and representing about 20% of Alaska’s overall supply — have spiked 400% since February.

JetBlue did not immediately respond to a request for comment.